The Liberals are willing to meet and discuss ways to speed up passing the copyright legislation – if the Conservatives stop playing the attack ad saying they support a “$75 iPod tax,” MP Marc Garneau told the copyright committee on Tuesday.

The Liberals support passing the bill quickly, and the government’s negative advertisements keep the committee from working together in good faith, he said.

“Let’s do it constructively, let’s not have this silly political maneuvering that they’re (the Conservative party) doing,” said Garneau.

“An iPod tax isn’t even on the table for the Liberal Party. And they need the Liberal Party if they want to pass this bill.”

Garneau suggested the Liberals would be open to cutting down the 200+ witness list – a list that could take until Thanksgiving to get through. He noted that careful consideration could help eliminate any duplication on the list and make it a bit more manageable, speeding up the witnesses to get to clause-by-clause consideration.

While Garneau said the bill does need to be passed urgently, he said that the government could have re-introduced the legislation after the 2008 prorogation, but chose not to until 2010.

“So for the Conservatives to say it’s urgent, that’s very rich,” said Garneau.

“If Mr. Garneau wanted to negotiate on committee, he’d negotiate on committee,” said Del Mastro. “And there’s never been any such suggestion made to us.”

Del Mastro added that the iPod tax ad in question is no longer being aired.

“If the Liberal party really wanted to demonstrate to people that they don’t support an iPod tax, then help us pass a copyright bill that doesn’t have one,” he said.

Del Mastro suggested that most of the members on the committee already know their stance on the bill and that witness testimony isn’t changing members’ views on the subject. All the more reason, he said, to recognize the urgency of the bill and send it back to the House as soon as possible.

With party cooperation, “there’s no reason this bill couldn’t be reported back to the House by the end of March,” said Del Mastro. “In fact, it could be reported even sooner than that.”

But stalling tactics from the opposition members are holding everything back, said Del Mastro. He pointed to Tuesday’s meeting when Bloc MP Carole Lavallée and Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez suggested witnesses return for a second session after 24 minutes of the meeting were missed due to a vote in the House.

Del Mastro suggested the meeting be extended by 24 minutes to make up for lost time, but some opposition MPs cited other obligations after the meeting and voted against the motion.

Either way, Del Mastro said he will welcome the Liberals’ help in expediting the bill.

“The door’s open… if the Liberals want to join us in accelerating this bill and getting it passed, we would love to meet them.”